Nepal, July 17 -- As Nepali women politicians and activists become more outspoken, they are being punished for it by an anonymous online community of hate mongers. Women are cyberbullied more than their male colleagues, and the comments are more vicious, with threats of sexual violence.

This is not unique to Nepal, but the implications go beyond impacting mental and physical well-being - such trolling is a serious threat to democracy itself.

"Any post that is critical of Balen or the Cabinet seems to trigger a lot of trolling," observes lawyer and activist Tanuja Pandey, who was at the forefront of the Gen Z protests last year. "Maybe these are supporters of the government, or the government itself. RSP does not get as much hate speech....